A/N: Many special thanks tot he following: 404, Gaerwen, shadowglove, All-American Vampire, Mrs Pierre Bouvier, Katsheswims, AquaCherry66, les-cam, and Vera-Sabe. I never thought that I would hit 73 reviews already! I love you guys (and no, not grossly... sisterly) because you are the best and I wouldn't be this far without you. Thanks so much again!

Chapter 12 – Cast Posted

Two days had passed since Rufus Scrimgeour had ordered that McGonagall had a week to find Hermione or else she would be removed, and things weren't turning up any results.

"Dumbledore," Minerva called to his empty picture frame. She would never understand where he had always went. "Albus!"

Dumbledore came walking leisurely into his frame, popping a lemon drop into his mouth as he went. He smiled down at her as he sat down in his thrown-like chair and straightened his half-moon spectacles.

"Yes, Minerva?" he answered.

"I need your help," McGonagall sighed heavily. "I have three more days to find Miss Granger and we aren't even close to finding anything."

"No worries, Minerva, no worries."

"Easy for you to say," McGonagall snapped. "You're no more than a magical painting. They won't remove you from the office." He simply chuckled at her and leaned forward in his frame a bit.

"Miss Granger will be fine, I assure you," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" she inquired with a furrowed brow, but he wasn't about to answer her as he stood up and made to leave his frame. "Dumbledore. DUMBLEDORE!"

Without a word, he was gone and McGonagall walked across her office and dropped down into her chair in a moody fit.

"Oh, do c'mon, Tiff," Sandie pleaded. "If you can't play Quidditch, you might as well try-out for a part in the play."

"No. I'm boycotting this play," Tiffany said stiffly as she sat on her bed with her arms crossed.

It was November first and try-outs were already underway. Sandie had been trying for an hour now to get Tiffany to stop pouting and go down to try-out with her, but it was no use. And what was worse is that Sandie couldn't find Hermione. She hadn't even been in the night before when Sandie got back from prefect patrol at two in the morning.

"Please?" Sandie begged. "Listen, you don't have to try-out, just come down and be there for me for emotional support."

"All right, all right," Tiff relented after a few moments of Sandie's sadden puppy eyes and frown.

"YAY!" Sandie squealed as she jumped up and pulled Tiffany out of the dorm with her.

They practically raced down to the Great Hall, and were surprised when they got there to see Hermione, who they knew as Alice, at the front of the line for try-outs. She was looking over a script and had brown circles around her eyes, making her appear extremely tired.

There were many, many students lined up. From the front of the hall where the staff table normally was, snaking throughout the hall and some even crowded outside the doors. Sandie and Tiffany immediately spotted Brian who was about ten people back from Hermione.

"I thought you weren't trying out?" Brian pointed out snidely to Tiffany.

"I'm not, loser," Tiffany sniffed as she watched Hermione take the stage. "Look!"

Brian, Sandie, and Tiffany turned as Hermione took the stage. She dropped the script onto the floor and turned to Dumbledore who was sitting in a chair smiling at her.

"What part?"

"Lead role... Christine," Hermione replied.

She looked out among the students, seeing most of them chatting idly and not paying attention to her. She sighed as she looked over at her Gryffindor friends. Her eyes moved back to Dumbledore, but as they went, she saw Tom Riddle standing a short distance behind the Transfigurations teacher.

"Shall we try the part where Christine is in the graveyard, then?" Here Hermione nodded and Dumbledore winked. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Granger."

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes, though she could still feel Tom's eyes upon her. Why was it that having him watch her was making her nervous? She shook her head slightly and opened her eyes, secretly thinking that she would rather have the whole Great Hall watch her than Tom.

"In sleep he sang to me. In dreams he came. That voice which calls to me, and speaks my name," Hermione sang.

Heads within the Great Hall turned at her melodious voice. She closed her eyes and let herself sing, unbothered and unstopped by their stares.

"You were once my one companion... You were all that mattered... You were once a friend and father – then my world was shattered..."

Tom stared, his ears ringing with sweetness as he stared at the angel on stage. Was this the same girl that he had stopped the night before in the hallway? The same girl that disappeared into the shadows when he went to yell at Antonin Dolohov? Or was this some figment of his imagination in her place?

To him, in that moment as she sang, she was unbridled beauty. Her heavenly voice flowing from soft, pink lips on a face that was gentle. He knew in that moment that he had to get cast as the Phantom. He would do anything to get cast as that. Tom grabbed a script, flipping to the Phantom's part and stalked out of the Great Hall to his Head's dorm. He would be there practicing all night if it took him that long.

Hermione opened her eyes as she heard some of the students in the hall clapping. She blushed somewhat and looked around, noticing that Tom had left. She smiled as she left the stage, knowing full well that she had showed him just what she was capable of.

"McGonagall has to know, Harry," Ron snapped as he paced the boys' dormitory. He was fast growing tired of this.

The sun was setting on the third day of her absence and still no one had the slightest clue as to where she was. What was taking so long to find her? Could she really have just disappeared? 'No' Ron thought haughtily. 'She's around here and everyone's just too stupid to find her!'

Harry looked up in surprise as Ron went stomping out of the boys' dorm and across the common room. Harry raced out after Ron, but he was stopped by Lavender who shook her head and said that she would go after him. Before Harry could protest, Lavender ran out of the common room.

"Ron!" Lavender yelled as she jogged up the corridor after him.

"Not now, Lavender," Ron growled as he turned the corner.

"Where are you going?"

"To find out what really happened to Hermione," Ron replied angrily.

Lavender stopped and sighed and Ron felt something in the way that she sighed. It was like she knew something that he didn't and it bothered him. He stopped as well and turned around and looked at her.

"What is it?" Ron pushed.

"Well, I heard some rumors flying around the castle, but you're obviously not in the mood for stupid rumors," Lavender answered timidly.

"Enlighten me," Ron commanded.

"Well, people are saying that Hermione's not missing. That she's still in the school... just-," Lavender stopped and looked at him with a saddened expression.

"Just what?" Ron said, what little patience he had left dwindling.

"Just lost in time," Lavender admitted.

"Lost in time?" Ron repeated with an annoyed laugh. "This school gets more and more ridiculous by the minute."

Ron whipped around and was going to start off down the hall again as Lavender grabbed him by the shoulders and moved around in front of him. She started up at him with frightened and pleading eyes, but Ron was not softened by her gaze.

"Move, Lavender," Ron ordered.

With a defeated expression, Lavender bowed her head and stepped aside as Ron continued on his way. He wanted nothing to do with Lavender at the moment. He was going to talk to Headmistress McGonagall and find out just what was going on. He wanted to know all that she knew and why nothing more was being done about the situation.

"How do you think you did?" Sandie asked Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione sighed as she sat, half asleep in a chair in the common room.

"Oh, you do, too," Tiffany teased. "You were the best one up there, and don't you deny it because you know it as well as we do."

"Now, let's not shine all the spot light on me," Hermione taunted back. "I thought that you said that you weren't going to try-out, but you did."

"And I think that you did wonderfully," Sandie admitted.

"Girls and their hogging of the limelight," Brian laughed as turned the page of his book.

Sandie turned to him and stared in an expectant way as Tiffany laughed. Hermione on the other hand just closed her eyes and started to nod off. She had been up all night the night before practicing her part of Christine with Dumbledore. He had assured her that she would get the part, but she didn't think that she would have to be up all night studying for it.

"Well, you were a real sight up there on stage," Tiffany scoffed. She jumped up out of her chair, grabbed up Brian's book, and held it out at arm's length as she read dramatically words that weren't even in it. "Christine! This thing... this man... whatever it is. It's not your father."

Brian had apparently had enough as he stood up and ripped his book out of Tiffany's hand as she crumpled to the floor in giggles. Sandie was trying her best not to giggle, but it was no use. Tiffany's mocking was quite accurate really, and funny to boot.

"Sandie, you of all people I would least expect to laugh," Brian snapped. Sandie blushed and frowned as Brian stocked off to his dorm.

"Now look at what you've done," Sandie snarled at Tiffany who was still rolling about on the floor laughing. "Grow up!" Sandie growled as she jumped up and went after Brian.

"Gee, you would think that I put bubotuber puss on his pillowcase," Tiffany laughed.

"Hmm?" Hermione mumbled as she woke from her light sleep.

"Nothing," Tiffany denied mischievously as she got up off the floor. "C'mon, let's go up to bed. I want to get up early tomorrow because the cast list will be posted."

"O-okay," Hermione yawned as she got up out of her chair and followed Tiffany up to the girls' dorm.

"McGonagall!" Ron bellowed as he went into the Headmistress's office.

"Mr. Weasley," McGonagall gasped as she jumped up from her chair at the desk in surprise. "It's rude to barge into someone's office uninvited... and yelling at them no less."

"Professor," Ron said with a pleading voice, trying to calm himself. "Please... please tell me what happened to Hermione."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but I don-"

"Professor," Ron sighed as he saw how she averted her eyes from his.

"Sit down," she muttered as she felt his gaze boring into her with beseeching importance.

"I just want to-," Ron broke off here as a lump formed in his throat. He swallowed it back and continued the best he could. "What happened to her?"

"Miss Granger was the victim of an unfortunate turn of events," McGonagall began solemnly. "She was sent back in time. To what year... we're uncertain, but I do have people from the Order searching for her. And the Minister had graciously lent me some of his workers to search for her as well."

"And?"

"We're not finding anything," McGonagall admitted guiltily.

"Is there anything that I ca-"

"Minerva!" came the shout of a voice from somewhere in the room. It was an older sounding voice, raspy and strained.

"Moody?"

McGonagall jumped up out of her chair and went to the fireplace where Mad-Eye Moody's face appeared in the dying embers of the fire.

"I was just at the Ministry searching through files when I overheard the Minister and some others talking about an attack on Hogwarts," Moody informed. "They plan on taking Harry. We need to get him somewhere safe... immediately."

McGonagall turned and looked to Ron who was nothing short of shocked. He had already lost Hermione, now he was going to lose his best friend as well. What more could happen?

"Alice! Oh, Alice! Wake up! Look, look!" Tiffany squealed as she sat on the edge of Hermione's bed.

Hermione rolled over and looked at the clock and saw that it was two-seventeen in the afternoon. She had slept through breakfast and lunch and felt that she could sleep through dinner as well.

"What is it?" Hermione asked groggily as she shielded her eyes from the bright Sunday afternoon sunlight.

"Here, see for yourself," Tiffany beamed as she tossed a piece of crumbled up paper at Hermione.

Hermione sat up in the bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes and scratching her head. She stretched and yawned, Tiffany now standing at the end of Hermione's bed tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

"Oh, c'mon!" Tiffany urged.

"All right... a-all right," Hermione yawned.

She picked up the paper and began to open it up. She laid it on the bed and smoothed it over as Tiffany stood there bouncing on the spot. Hermione picked up the paper and held it closer to her face as she read the top title which was in big, black bold letters.

Phantom of the Opera Cast List:

The Phantom – Tom Riddle

Christine Daae – Alice Granger

Vicomte de Chagny (Raoul) – Leo Witte

Madam Giry – Sandie Michaels

Meg Giry – Tiffany Summers

Signora Carlotta Giudicelli – Olive Hornby

Signor Ubaldo Piangi – Alex Maygor

Monsieur Richard Firmin – Abraxas Malfoy

Monsieur Gilles Andre – Antonin Dolohov

Monsieur Reyer – Keith Riley

Monsieur Lefevre – Daniel McQuillen

Buquet – Dylan Mulciber

Remaining cast members will be filled in as need through separate try-outs which will be held on the 8th. First play practice will commence on the 3rd after dinner until ten o'clock.

Hermione looked up at Tiffany who squealed and jumped onto the bed, throwing her arms around Hermione's neck.

"Isn't this exciting! You got the lead role!" Tiffany gushed, but Hermione was anything but excited. She would be play lead role with Tom Riddle as planned, but something bothered her now about that. And the other male lead was being played by Leo. The very thought of that gave her butterflies, but she couldn't understand why.

"I always knew that you would get the lead role," Abraxas said to Tom as they and a few other Slytherin boys sat around the fire in Tom's Head's Common Room.

"It's just too bad that he has to play lead opposite those two idiots, Alice Granger and Leo Witte," said Liber Lestrange.

"Here! Here!" chanted three other boys as the lot of them raised their glasses in a toast to Tom who was sitting at the head of the circle, smirking.

'Yes, too bad I am playing opposite them... Too bad for them' Tom thought sinisterly. He stared down into the fire, his eyes sparkling black from the blazing light. It was apparent by looking at him that he was thinking hard about something, but what it was, no one could say.

"Well, my Knights of of Walpurgis," Tom called. "Tonight's meeting has come to a close... don't want to be tired for our classes in the morning, now do we?"

The Slytherin boys rose and all nodded to Tom as they let. Abraxas was the last to leave and he stopped as he came to the portrait hole.

"Voldemort," he spoke. "This play isn't going to slow our plans, is it?"

"Things do take time, Abraxas," Tom said from across the room as he stood in front of the fire place. "This play won't harm any of our plans. We're going to proceed as scheduled. In fact, our official swearing-in will be this Saturday, the 8th, just after practice for the play."

"Shall I tell the others?" Abraxas questioned.

"Yes. Tell them to come prepared... and if they aren't ready for the pain of the oath, then tell them not to show up," Tom instructed before listening to Malfoy leave.

He extinguished the fire and walked through the darkness to his staircase and up to his dorm. He retired to bed with the thought of power. Saturday was going to be a big day for him. He could hardly await its arrival. 'All in good time. The best things are worth the wait' Tom told himself as he stared at the ceiling which seemed infinitely dark. Yes, the best things were worth the wait, but it wasn't the thing he had in mind.